On October 20th, a jury was selected for the trial of Donald Dargan.
Dargan is charged with one count of trafficking in individuals, two counts of rape by forcible compulsion, one count of rape by threat of forcible compulsion, two counts of involuntary sexual deviate intercourse, two counts of sexual assault, seven counts of drug possession with intent to distribute, five counts of involuntary servitude through a controlled substance, one count of conspiracy to commit involuntary servitude through a controlled substance, one count of indecent assault, one count of conspiracy for corrupt organization, one count of drug delivery resulting in death, one count of reckless endangerment, one count of being an employee for a corrupt organization, and one count of criminal use of communication facility.
The jury selected for Dargan’s trial consists of six women and six men, along with four alternates.
Dargan is one of five men accused of sex trafficking. Dargan and the other co-defendants reportedly provided drugs to women and then cut the women off, forcing them to sell sex in order to obtain more drugs. Dargan is also charged for the death of Colleen Buck, 38, who was found dead from an overdose in Dargan’s apartment on January 22, 2021.
Dargan has been in the Blair County Prison since January 3, 2022. He is representing himself, with standby counsel Christopher Jancula. In June of 2025, Jancula tried to have the charges against Dargan dropped because of the amount of time that had passed since Dargan had been in jail without facing trial. The Honorable Wade A. Kagarise denied the motion to dismiss the charges.
The CSE Institute applauds the Blair County District Attorney’s Office for prosecuting Dargan, particularly for the utilization of Pennsylvania’s human trafficking statute. Under Pennsylvania law, a person is guilty of trafficking if they recruit, entice, solicit, harbor, transport, provide, obtain or maintain an individual if they know or recklessly disregard that the individual is subject to involuntary sexual servitude. Under Pennsylvania law, sexual servitude includes any sex act or performance involving a sex act in exchange for anything of value obtained by force, fraud, or coercion. Dargan employed a form of force, fraud, and coercion that is codified by Pennsylvania’s human trafficking statute 18 Pa. C.S. § 3012(b)(12) and typically used by traffickers: “facilitating or controlling the individual’s access to a controlled substance.”
Using addiction to force women to sell sex is unfortunately not a unique tactic used by traffickers. Targeting an individual’s vulnerabilities by appealing to their addiction, thus further victimizing them, is a particularly appalling method of exploitation. Prosecuting traffickers for using drugs as a form of force, fraud, or coercion comes with multiple challenges, including the stigma around addiction that can cause people to disregard signs of trafficking. It is therefore crucial to recognize this type of exploitation as trafficking and charge traffickers accordingly.
Addiction and trafficking are inherently interrelated with the trauma victims experience throughout their exploitation. Whether victims had prior trauma to being exploited or developed trauma due to their exploitation, drugs and alcohol often become a coping mechanism used to numb the pain of abuse. This cycle of abuse and addiction allow traffickers to maintain control over their victims, while also giving sex buyers the tool to exploit this addiction by purchasing the victim in exchange for drugs.
Dargan’s trial is scheduled for November 17th, 2025. The CSE Institute will continue to provide updates as they become available.
All views expressed herein are personal to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law or of Villanova University.